NBA Building Cardinals

Chapter 401. 402. East River West
Before the game, the players of the two teams had their own shooting training. Liu Rui can also be said to be very familiar with this Suns team.

Rather than being familiar with the Suns, Liu Rui is very familiar with D'Antoni's tactical philosophy.

Even in a sense, Liu Rui and D'Antoni have similar offensive concepts.

It is all about fighting fast, chaotically, trying to destroy the formation in positional warfare, so as to drag the opponent into their own rhythm.

It's just that most of the current Bobcats' shots are outside the three-point line.

Although the Suns are also among the best in the league in three-point shots, they still mainly focus on running and bombing, and bombard the basket as much as possible.

The most important point is that Liu Rui's offensive concept is more advanced than the current D'Antoni.

The players' usual training plan is also more professional than D'Antoni's.

Before the start of the game, the two sides also announced their starting lineups:

Suns:
Nash, Lagabell, James Jones, Marion, Kurt Thomas.

Bobcats:
Mo Williams, Joe Johnson, Granger, Wallace, Okafor.

As soon as the Suns' starting lineup came out this season, it can be seen that compared with last season, it lacks too much star flavor.

The departure of Joe Johnson, the injury of the bully Stoudemire, and the failure of the French magician Dior who should have shined in the Suns, made this Suns team a bit miserable.

As for why Liu Rui re-selected Gerald Wallace as the power forward in this game instead of Chinese player Wang Zhizhi.

Because if you continue to use Wang Zhizhi to start the game, then facing Marion who is facing him, coupled with D'Antoni's bombardment tactics, then Wang Zhizhi's end will basically be dead...

Liu Rui managed to rebuild Wang Zhizhi's confidence on the basketball court, but he didn't want to be beaten back to the pre-liberation by the Suns' running and bombing tactics in one game.

Wang Zhizhi's foot movement speed is excellent, but that's only compared to other inside players. If compared with Marion, he is basically a scumbag existence.

With the start of the game, the two sides also jumped the ball on the field, and the ball was first obtained by the Suns.

Since the Suns lacked the bully Stoudemire at the beginning of the regular season, the entire team also lacked the pick-and-roll connection between Nash and the bully on the offensive end of this season.

The connection between Stoudemire and Nash can be said to have played a big role in the reason why the Suns were able to move forward in the run-and-bomb tactics before.

When Stoudemire is no longer on the court, the pick-and-roll people become Nash and Marion, but compared to Stoudemire's slam dunk, Marion's threat is much smaller.

As for the Suns' starting center Kurt Thomas, he can only score occasionally with the help of offensive rebounds or Nash's precise lobs.

It is even more difficult to rely on him to make achievements on the offensive end.

As for James Jones, he is a shooter ambushing outside the three-point line, basically without the ability to attack the ball autonomously.

This also led to the fact that there are not many offensive players in the entire Suns team. Nash and Marion each count as one, and Lagabel can count as half.

So the defensive strategy given by Liu Rui when he came up was very obvious.

If Wallace goes to defend Marion, it will make it very difficult for Marion to score on the offensive end.

After all, these two players can be said to have very similar styles, and they are basically the first step in defensive counterattacks.

Possessing the speed and explosive power far surpassing that of a power forward, so when these two people are together, it is basically the effect of exchange.

As for the other player, Nash, Liu Rui's defensive strategy against him is also very simple, that is, to resolutely let Mo Williams defend alone.

No matter how many points Nash scores, Liu Rui can bear it, but he must resolutely cut off the connection between Nash and other teammates on the court.

Once Nash does not have a good passing space on the court, his role on the court will become relatively simple. After all, he is not a defender who is known for his explosive scoring ability.

Although his shooting ability is still accurate, it is not enough to shoot through the Bobcats on his own.

The most important thing is that when Nash can't drive the entire Suns offense on the offensive end, then on the defensive end, he is a natural defensive loophole. Even facing Mo Williams, Nash can only be blown up.

The Bobcats' off-ball pick-and-roll on the offensive end is one of Nash's most hated offensive methods.

Gerald Wallace's personal reflexes were quick when Nash and Marion were running pick-and-rolls in the middle.

And according to the ideas given by Liu Rui before the game, when Wallace circled the pick-and-roll, he only needed to circle from the back to cut off Marion's breakthrough route to the inside.

Even if Marion chooses to shoot from outside the three-point line by taking advantage of this empty space, then Liu Ruida can ask Wallace to let him go.

This also caused Wallace to always get stuck in the breakthrough route early when the two were playing pick-and-rolls in the high post to prevent Marion from cutting inside and forcing him to take long-range shots.

Coupled with Liu Rui's firm single-defense strategy for Nash, this also makes Nash have no better choice except for Marion on the outside even if he wants to pass the ball.

Therefore, the Suns' offense came to a standstill at the beginning of the game. As the 24 seconds were approaching, Nash himself chose the offensive shot.

Seeing that the team's offense on the court is not very smooth, although D'Antoni is not a head coach known for his defense, it still feels like the team is in trouble.

So sitting off the court is also analyzing the situation on the court with the defensive coach next to him.

Tilting his head to see the Suns on the bench, D'Antoni was talking with the assistant coach beside him.

Liu Rui just smiled, but didn't say anything.

Because Liu Rui's defensive strategy given to the sun from the very beginning was not something thought-provoking. It was not so much a conspiracy and tactics as it was an upright conspiracy.

Liu Rui made a fuss about the lack of independent offensive ability of the Suns on the field.

To put it more simply and bluntly, it is obvious that I want Nash to use his personal star ability to play singles. I will recognize how many points you score, but if you want to pass the ball, sorry, there are no goals.

Therefore, if the Suns want to solve the current situation on the court, it is actually not difficult. Either increase the independent offensive points on the court again, or try to increase the tactical movement of other players on the off-ball end.

It's just a pity that the former Suns don't have this ability, otherwise D'Antoni would have already started him.

As for the latter, hehe, the Bobcats are currently the best team in the league for running without the ball, not one of them...

(End of this chapter)